SOLVED. YA WW2 novel about boy who gets separated from his parents and travels all around Europe. [s]

[Michelle]

Hello! I read a book in 2012-13 about this boy from either Russia or Ukraine or Poland during WW2 that gets separated from his parents. I remember the separation happened when they were riding on a train and it stopped for some reason, maybe bombs up ahead, and they all got out and some soldiers started shooting at them. The boy ducks down and avoids getting shot. It's winter time so the ground is covered in snow. Someone nearby though does get shot. Another man that survives tells the boy that he should take the coat off the dead man that got shot. He does so now he has a coat. Then I remember the kid gets back on the train or takes another train that passes but it's not the same one his mom was on.

Then there's another scene I remember where him and this other kid later on sneak on a train and eat fish from these barrels? They're really salty, preserved fish. They eat so much until they have to get off and drink water.

Another thing I remember is at this other town/ train station in the winter, the boy would find/steal food like potatoes and cook it by burrying it under hot coals.

Another scene is eventually he gets to Switzerland I think and it's finally summer time. He is so hot and his head is so itchy bc he has lice. He finds the local blacksmith and he's a big burly, kinda scary man. He gives haircuts for free though. The boy gets his head shaved by him and then he hangs out by a lake or river and drinks the water and baths in it.

At some point before or after this, he joins a group of street kids. I think they're all boys except for one girl. The girl is like 15 and there's a part where it's implied she gets raped by a man in an alley. It skips forward to where the girl is pregnant and all the other street kids try to look after her and always give her some of the food they find. I particularly remember them giving her watermelon or at least saying she looked like a watermelon ready to burst with her pregnant belly.

Then I remember they see American soldiers telling everyone the war is over. Eventually the kid tries returning to his hometown to try and find his parents. He does eventially find his mom. He said it was difficult for him to stay in one place or go to school consistenly bc he had spent years roaming around doing his own thing at this point. But later on, his mom and family move to Israel bc they're Jewish.

Also this book was originally written in Hebrew but translated to English and other languages!! I think it was based on the author's life!

[Mark]

possibly The Painted Bird by Jerzy kozinsky

[Ayshe]

Or Along the Tracks?

[Michelle]

Ayshe wrote: "Or Along the Tracks?"
YES IT'S THIS BOOK!!! THANK YOU!!! I was struggling to find my post again and check the replies lmao but thank god i found it!

[Kris]

Great! Glad you found your book, Michelle. Thanks for the update.